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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to find easy ways of getting together

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Speaker 1: with friends, so you spend your time enjoying each other's company,

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Speaker 1: not dealing with logistics or preparation. So we have all

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Speaker 1: tried to plan a night out with friends and got

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Speaker 1: admired in the annoying back and forth about dates and

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Speaker 1: times that might work. Or maybe you've decided to invite

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Speaker 1: friends over to your home and you spend a day

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Speaker 1: or more planning the menu and spiffing up your house,

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Speaker 1: only to spend the morning after the dinner party washing dishes.

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Speaker 1: Even if they get together is wonderful, this can feel

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Speaker 1: like a lot of bother. Life soon gets too busy

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Speaker 1: for bother, so we don't see our friends as often

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Speaker 1: as we'd like to. If what you want is to

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Speaker 1: spend time with your friends, then the key is to

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Speaker 1: reduce the bother. See if there is a way you

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Speaker 1: can pare down your planning and focus on simply getting together.

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Speaker 1: No reservations, no menu planning or cooking, no decorating, no cleaning,

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Speaker 1: just getting together. So, for instance, if you'd like to

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Speaker 1: see more of a particular circle of friends. Set recurring

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Speaker 1: times forget togethers that are easy for everyone. A recurring

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Speaker 1: time means people no way in advance. When they get

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Speaker 1: together happens perhaps every Thursday morning at eight or the

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Speaker 1: third Friday of every month at six pm. Plus with

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Speaker 1: a recurring date, you remove the pressure of finding a

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Speaker 1: date that works for everyone. Every date will work for

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Speaker 1: some people, and some dates will work for everyone, so

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Speaker 1: no need to figure out availability and r s v

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Speaker 1: ps every time. Maybe you and your neighbors decide together

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Speaker 1: for drinks every Friday after work, You simply head over

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Speaker 1: to the neighborhood playground. You take a drink and perhaps

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Speaker 1: a snack to share. Chairs for the adults and a

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Speaker 1: soccer ball or bubbles for the kids. No other prep required.

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Speaker 1: I know of a couple who invite their friends over

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Speaker 1: for porch parties, a series of get togethers on their

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Speaker 1: porch when the weather is mild. They send out invitations

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Speaker 1: with the dates. You don't have to r s v P.

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Speaker 1: You just show up and bring whatever you want to.

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Speaker 1: Kids and friends are welcome to come along. You don't

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Speaker 1: even necessarily go into the house. You just sit on

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Speaker 1: the porch and enjoy the time together with none of

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Speaker 1: the fuss that entertaining sometimes entails. You could do something

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Speaker 1: similar with your porcher yard, or put a new spin

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Speaker 1: on the office hours professor's hold by going somewhere that

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Speaker 1: people know they can find you at a certain point.

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Speaker 1: Every week, for instance, you could go to a cafe

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Speaker 1: near your home or work for social hours. Perhaps every

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Speaker 1: Wednesday from five thirty to sixty. You could go to

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Speaker 1: the same cafe and your friends know they will find

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Speaker 1: you there and so they can stop by to say hi.

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Speaker 1: Will you end up alone sometimes perhaps, but take a

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Speaker 1: good book and the time will be nice either way.

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Speaker 1: If you want to spend more time with people you enjoy,

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Speaker 1: focus on doing just that, spending time together. Don't layer

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Speaker 1: on any needless complexity in terms of hosting, getting reservations,

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Speaker 1: or coordinating complicated schedules. Just find a rhythm and a

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Speaker 1: venue that work and enjoy the fun instead of enduring

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Speaker 1: the logistics. If you take an easy desert approach to

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Speaker 1: gathering with those you want to see more of, I'd

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Speaker 1: love to hear how you do it. You can reach

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Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura Vanderkam dot com in the meantime,

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Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making

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Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b E the

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Speaker 1: Numb Before Then Breakfast p o D. You can also

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Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i

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Speaker 1: heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out

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Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward

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Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of

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Speaker 1: I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,

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